1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system and an ordering system and, in particular, to an image processing system for compositing additional information concerning a subject with respect to a photographed image to output a composite image and an ordering system with which a customer places an order for goods while watching a television program, using a personal computer, playing a game, or watching a movie or the like, or again, from a reserved scene, or places an order for a print of a displayed scene or for a recording medium on which image data on the scene is recorded. (In the present invention, a recording medium for recording image data is to be simply referred to as “recording medium” or “image recording medium”).
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an image photographed on a photograph film such as a negative film and a reversal film (hereinafter referred to as film) has been printed on a photosensitive material (printing paper) by so-called direct exposure (analog exposure) for projecting an image on a film onto a photosensitive material and subjecting the material to planar exposure.
On the other hand, in recent years, digital photoprinter has been put to practical use as a printing device utilizing digital exposure, that is, an image processing system. This image processing system is for photoelectrically reading an image of a photographed frame that is photographed by a conventional camera and recorded on a photograph film to obtain digital image data on the read image, or obtaining digital image data on a photographed frame photographed by a digital camera, then applying various kinds of image processing to the digital image data to have image data for recording, subjecting a photosensitive material to scan exposure with the recording light, which is modulated according to the image data for recording, so as to record an image (latent image) on the material, and preparing a (finished) photograph print.
With the digital photoprinter, an image is turned into digital image data and exposing conditions for printing can be determined by image data processing. Thus, correction of washed-out highlights and dull shadows of an image due to backlight, strobe photographing or the like, sharpness processing, correction of color failure and density failure, correction of under exposure and over exposure, correction of marginal luminosity deterioration, or the like can be preferably performed to obtain a high-grade photograph print that has been unable to be obtained with the conventional direct exposure. Moreover, composition of a plurality of images and division of an image as well as composition of characters, or the like can be performed by the image data processing. Thus, it is possible to output a photograph print that is edited/processed at will according to use, for example, compositing additional information or the like relating to a photographing date and time, a photographing situation and a subject.
In addition, since the digital photoprinter not only can output an image as a photograph print but also can supply image data to a computer or the like or save image data in an image recording medium such as a floppy disk, the image data can be utilized for a variety of uses other than a photograph.
However, conventionally, the above-mentioned composition of additional information with a photographed image has to rely on manual editing by an operator and there is no service for automatically compositing information concerning a subject with a photographed image. Thus, it causes troubles to composite additional information concerning a subject, a message or the like with a photographed image. Particularly when a plurality of subject persons are in one image, if messages or the like are added to respective subject persons, it is hard to understand which message is to be added to whom, which makes composition work very complicated.
On the other hand, conventionally, when one scene of a television program that is being broadcast or one scene on the screen of a television which is reproducing images recorded on a videotape is to be printed, a video printer for home use is used, However, since such a video printer for home use has a low resolution and image data transmitted by a television broadcast suffers from a deteriorated image quality due to an effect of noises during transmission and various kinds of processing in the video printer, a high-quality print cannot be expected. Moreover, print sizes are fixed with a largest size on the order of a postcard.
In order to address this problem, the applicant of this application has already proposed in JP 10-171027 A a method and a system for printing an image that makes it possible to print a scene of a television broadcast or the like with a large size and high quality.
This utilizes frame identification information for identifying each image frame associating it with each image frame of a television broadcast. If a customer wishes to print an image while the customer is watching each scene on a television screen, the customer reads out frame identification information of the image frame by a personal computer and transfers this frame identification information and orderer identification information/which is registered in advance, to a print order receiver through data communicating means such as a personal computer to place an order for printing. The print order receiver specifies a frame to be printed based on the transmitted frame identification information and reads corresponding original image data of high resolution out of an image database to print the image.
In addition, there is so-called television shopping as an ordering method of general goods. With the television shopping, a customer sees goods information transmitted by a television broadcast and, if there is goods that the customer wishes to buys places an order, for example, by telephone.
With the method and the system disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese patent application, since a customer can order printing by transmitting only frame identification information and orderer identification information by a personal computer, printing can be ordered simply. In addition, since an image is printed using original image data, a large and high-quality print can be obtained. However, since all images are not always saved in a database, an image cannot be printed even if an order for the image is placed in some cases. In addition, the above-mentioned conventional television shopping requires time and labor because a customer has to place an order separately using means such as a telephone after watching the television.